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Ironically, I just heard Sen. Grassley (IOWA)------demand that we keep government out of decisions made by people regarding their lives! (talking of NOT wanting to have gov. negotiate precription drug prices).
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: A Dark Day for Women's Health Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:54:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Eleanor Smeal <feministmajority@mail.democracyinaction.com> Reply-To: feministmajority@mail.democracyinaction.com To: xxxx
Dear xxx,
Today's devastating 5-4 decision by the Bush-stacked Supreme Court is a historical decision on abortion and women's rights and is a direct assault on Roe v. Wade. This decision greatly increases the challenges and work of the feminist movement, as it fundamentally undermines women's health protection and makes politicians -- not doctors -- the decision-makers and arbitrators of women's health and access to abortion and family planning services.
Please, donate to the Feminist Majority today to help us expand our important work for women's reproductive rights.
This is an open invitation for state legislatures and the U.S. Congress to further restrict abortion and to interfere with women's health decisions.
* We must make this an election issue. * We must stop the stacking of the Supreme Court by President Bush. * We must increase the pro-choice votes in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and state legislatures. * And we must work to pass the Freedom of Choice Act, which will codify Roe so that it cannot be further assaulted.
Help us mobilize and expand our work to meet this direct assault on women's health and lives. Donate to the Feminist Majority today.
On this dark day for women's health, I issued a press statement. Please find it attached below, and consider donating to the Feminist Majority to help us protect women's health and lives.
For Women's Lives, Ellie Smeal Eleanor Smeal President
******************************** Statement of Eleanor Smeal, April 18, 2007
In upholding the Bush Administration's abortion ban in Gonzales v. Carhart, the Bush-stacked majority of the U.S. Supreme Court showed its true colors: that it does not care about the health, well-being, and safety of American women. In this first decision on abortion of the newly constituted majority, without Sandra Day O'Connor, Bush appointees John Roberts and Samuel Alito did what they were put on the Court to do—strike a blow against women's fundamental right to choose abortion.
This propels women's right to abortion and birth control to the center of the 2008 presidential election. Elections matter: this ban is a direct consequence of a Republican, ideologically driven president and Congress, which ignored the science-based opinions of such leading medical authorities as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in passing this ban and signing it into law.
Already, the decision in Gonzales v. Carhart will mean that women with troubled pregnancies will be forced into more dangerous situations, putting their future ability to have safe and healthy pregnancies at risk. Older women will be especially affected, as amniocentesis results are released later in the pregnancy. The health and safety of adolescents and pre-teens will also be more at risk, as they are often forced to delay their decisions about whether to abort because of lack of control over their own lives or inadequate funds.
This case must serve as a wake-up call to American women that their right to a safe, legal abortion is not only being chipped away, but frontally assaulted. Principled supporters of women's health and safety in the Senate must stand up against any future Bush appointments to the Supreme Court who will not uphold Roe v. Wade and preserve women's fundamental rights, because women's lives are on the line.
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